Chrysanthemum plant named `Empire Gold Champagne`

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant named Empire Gold Champagne, characterized particularly by its gold ray florets; almost fully double flowers which are very resistant to shattering; compact, cushion habit; 6.0-8.0 cm capitulum diameter; a natural season flower date of September 28, and eight week flower response in light/shade programs.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar ofChrysanthemum, botanically known as Dendranthema grandiflora, andreferred to by the cultivar name Empire Gold Champagne.

Empire Gold Champagne is a product of a mutation induction program. Thenew cultivar was discovered and selected by inventor Janet S. Fuess inMarch 1993 in a controlled environment in New Hartford, N.Y. as oneflowering plant within a flowering block established as rooted cuttingsfrom stock plants which had been exposed as rooted cuttings to an X-raysource of 1270-1800 rads in Mulberry, Fla. on Jan. 7, 1993. Theirradiated parent cultivar was the cultivar Pink Champagne, disclosed inU.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,920 and described as a decorative garden mum withlavender pink color.

The irradiation program resulting in Empire Gold Champagne had as itsprimary objective the expansion of color ranges of the parent cultivarPink Champagne. The irradiation program comprised irradiating cuttingsof the parent cultivar at radiation levels of a minimum of 1270 and amaximum of 1800 rads for 90 seconds. A total of 1375 cuttings harvestedfrom a total of 500 irradiated plants were flowered on Mar. 8, 1993. Ofthese, 69 initial selections were made, which selections were thenrevegetated and reflowered on Aug. 28, 1993 and again on Feb. 6, 1994.Twelve selections remained stable, and were flowered on May 22, 1994 andSep. 18, 1994 before choosing the final 3 selections. These threevarieties were further trialed in New Hartford, N.Y. and Oxnard, Calif.,ultimately resulting in the decision to introduce one selection asEmpire Royal Champagne, one as Empire Gold Champagne and one as EmpirePeach Champagne. The selections Empire Royal Champagne and Empire PeachChampagne are disclosed in pending application Ser. Nos. 08/670,280 and08/670,277, respectively.

The first act of asexual reproduction of Empire Gold Champagne wasaccomplished when vegetative cuttings were taken from the initialselection in June 1993 in a controlled environment in New Hartford, N.Y.by a technician working under formulations established and supervised bythe inventor. Horticultural examination of selected units initiated inSeptember 1993 has demonstrated that the combination of characteristicsas herein disclosed for Empire Gold Champagne are firmly fixed and areretained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.

Empire Gold Champagne has not been observed under all possibleenvironmental conditions. The phenotype may vary significantly withvariations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, and daylength, without, however, any variation in genotype. The followingobservations, measurements and comparisons described plants grown in NewHartford, N.Y. under natural outdoor conditions which approximate thosegenerally used in commercial practice.

The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined tobe basic characteristics of Empire Gold Champagne, which in conmbinationdistinguish this Chrysanthemum as a new and distinct cultivar:

1. Gold (yellow-orange) ray floret color.

2. Almost fully double flowers, with only a few disc florets present.

3. Flowers are very resistant to shattering.

4. Fully expanded ray florets are approximately 30-35 mm long and 7-8 mmwide.

5. Average of 360 ray florets per capitulum.

6. Capitulum is 6-8 cm in diameter.

7. Eight (8) week flower response in light/shade programs.

8. Performs well in the outdoor garden, with a natural season floweringdate of September 28 in New Hartford, N.Y.

9. Compact cushion habit, making it suitable for production in 4" up to8" containers.

10. Fully branching and flowering.

Of the many commercial cultivars known to the inventor, the most similarin comparison to Empire Gold Champagne is the parent cultivar PinkChampagne. In comparison to Pink Champagne, Empire Gold Champagne has agold (yellow-orange) flower color whereas Pink Champagne has a lavenderpink flower color, and Empire Gold Champagne flowers approximately 1week later in light/shade and natural season programs. All other traitsof Empire Gold Champagne are similar to those same characteristics ofPink Champagne. Empire Gold Champagne is also distinguished from siblingcultivars Empire Royal Champagne and Empire Peach Champagne by rayfloret color and by the 1 week later flower response of Empire GoldChampagne.

The accompanying color photographic drawing is a top perspective viewshowing typical inflorescence and foliage characteristics of Empire GoldChampagne, with colors being as nearly true as possible withillustrations of this type.

In the following description, color references are made to The RoyalHorticultural Society Colour Chart. The color values were determinedbetween 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM on Sep. 29, 1995 under 4,000 footcandles atNew Hartford, N.Y.

Classification:

Botanical.--Dendranthema grandiflora cv. Empire Gold Champagne.

Commercial.--Decorative garden mum.

Inflorescence

A. Capitulum:

Form.--Flat.

Type.--Decorative (double).

Diameter across face.--6-8 cm.

B. Corolla of ray florets:

Color: (general tonality from a distance of three meters).--Gold(yellow-orange).

Color (upper surface).--22B, center darker, approximately 22A; as theflower ages, the ray floret tips darken to 22A.

Color (under surface).--20B.

C. Corolla of disc florets:

Color (mature).--7A.

Color (immature).--5A.

D. Reproductive organs:

Androecium.--Very few; present in disc florets only.

Gynoecium.--Present in both disc and ray florets.

Plant

A. General appearance:

Height.--25-35 cm, when grown in an 8" pot.

B. Foliage:

Color (upper surface).--147A.

Color (lower surface).--147B.

Size and shape.--Ovate with cleft margins. Approximately 6.0 cm long,4.5 cm wide, and 5-lobed.

It is claimed:
 1. A new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plantnamed Empire Gold Champagne, as illustrated and described.